Prince Charles' cricket income

17th August 2006 13:15:02

Britain's Prince Charles earns £200,000 a year from the famous Oval cricket ground.

The prince owns The Oval, which hosts England and Surrey cricket club matches, and its surrounding land because of his title of the Duke of Cornwall and charges the annual rental fee.

In three years time, the prince's income from the international cricket venue will increase enormously when he becomes entitled to 3 per cent of all turnover from the ground because of a new levy.

Charles will be entitled to 3 per cent of ticket sales - which range from £36 to £62 in price - all refreshment sales and even the £1.3 million given by the England and Wales Cricket Board to the ground from the sale of TV rights for international matches.

Last year, The Oval's income was £18 million, of which £540,000 would have gone to the prince if the new levy had already been introduced.

The land became part of the Duchy of Cornwall estate in 1337 when King Edward III set aside a stretch of farmland south of the Thames river to provide income for his son, Edward the 'Black Prince' of Wales.